People in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, practice social distancing while enjoying the warm spring sun and blooming flowers at Gyeongsanggamyeong Park, on March 25, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are experiencing more anxiety with no end to the coronavirus pandemic in sight.
The Korean Society of Traumatic Stress Studies conducted a survey of 2,063 adults, who reported an average score of 1.77 points last month in terms of how worried and afraid they were because of COVID-19.
The anxiety index dropped from 1.73 in March to 1.59 in May before jumping back up in September.
Similarly, the proportion of respondents categorized as ‘anxiety risk’ dropped from 19 percent in March to 15 percent in May before surging as high as 22.1 percent in September.
More people are suffering from depression or suicide impulses due to the virus pandemic.
The proportion of respondents categorized as ‘depression risk’ went from 17.5 percent in March and 18.6 percent in May to 22.1 percent in September.
The proportion of respondents who considered committing suicide reached 13.8 percent in September, higher than March (9.7 percent) and May (10.1 percent). It was also three times higher than 2018 (4.7 percent).
There were more women (26.2 percent) in the depression risk group than men (18.1 percent), while there were more men (14.5 percent) among those who considered suicide than women (13.2 percent).
A majority of respondents said they were most stressed out by COVID-19 because it interfered with their plans (1.71 points).
Others blamed the coronavirus for economic difficulties (1.45 points) and unrest caused by false information or fake news (1.45 points).
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
